One-piece shrouded hinge member and method of forming same



March 29, E938.

J. sMrrH ONE-PIECE SHR-OUDED HINGE MEMBER AND METHOD OF FORMING SAMEFiled Sept. 5.. 1935 lllllllllllllllmnmm IIV/I l ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 29, 1938 PATENT OFFICE ONE-PIECE SHROUDED HINGE MEMBER ANDMETHOD OF FORMING SAME.

.Hazor J. Smith, Longmeadow,

Moore Drop Forging Company,

Mass., assignor to Springfield,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 5, 1935,Serial No. 39,269

6 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges, and more particularly to a hinge foruse on automobile doors and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a cheap,

simple, durable and commercially practical hinge of the above type.

Another object is to provide a one-piece shrouded hinge member.

Another object is to provide a simplified method for making a hinge ofthe above type.

Another object is to provide a one-piece hinge member having a unitaryshroud and bushing.

Various other objects will be apparent as the nature of the invention ismore fully disclosed.

A feature of the invention consists in the formation of a unitary hingemember from a onepiece blank which is adapted to form the bush.- ingsfor the hinge pin and a shroud for concealing the hinge knuckle.

In one embodiment,this is accomplishedby providing a blank havingflanges formed on opposite edges thereof. These flanges are bent backover the body of the blank, and the blank is rolled to form a hingeknuckle in which the flanges constitute built-in bushings and the bodyconstitutes a shroud. The hinge is formed with a minimum number ofoperations and, by reason of its integral structure, is extremelydurable.

Other features consist in the various details of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter set forth.

The broader aspects of the invention will be better understood byreferring to the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing forming a part thereof, in which certain preferredembodiments of the invention are set forth in detail for purposes ofillustration.

In the drawing, 7

Figure 1 is a plan view of the blank from which the hinge member ismade;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the blank illustrating a step in themaking of the hinge member;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the blank with the side flanges folded overto form the upper and lower bushings;

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the hinge member as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the formed hinge member;

50 Figure 6 is a longitudinal section thereof taken along the line 6-6of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a plan view of the hinged member;

Figure 8 is an end elevation thereof;

Figure 9 is a plan view of the assembled hinge; and

Figure 10 is a section taken on the line Ill-10 of Figure 9.

In the following description and in the claims, certain specific termsare used for convenience in referring to various details of theinvention. 5 These terms, however, are to be given as broad aninterpretation as the state of the art will permit.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, the hinge is shown ascomprising a base or hinge member (Figures 1 to 5) and a hinged member(Figures 7 and 8). The hinge member is made from a blank (Figure 1)comprising a body porportion 10 having an aperture ll formed therein,for the purpose to be described, and having a pair of side flanges I2formed on the opposite edges thereof. This blank may be stamped or cutfrom sheet metal in any desired manner.

In order to form the hinge member from the blank above described, theflanges I2 are first bent upwardly, as indicated in Figure 2, and arethen folded over the face of the body 10, as indicated in Figures 3 and4.

The blank, with the flanges l2 thus folded over, is then rolled to forma substantially cylindrical r hinge knuckle l4 and a pair of overlappingfiat "sections 15 (Figures 5 and :6), the flanges l2 forming bushings I6and the body portion forming a shroud H. The flat sections 15 areprovided with apertures l8 adapted to receive attaching screws. It is tobe noted that the outer surface of the hinge knuckle l4 does notbacktrack on itself but is directly continuous with each of the outersurfaces of the fiat section 15.

The blank may be rolled into the form above 3 described in anyconvenient manner, as by a die, which is adapted to form the hingeknuckle M with a predetermined external diameter. During the formingprocess the bushings I6 are caused to increase somewhat in thickness,since the metal is free to expand only toward the center of the hingeknuckle. This increase in thickness provides clearance for the tongue ofthe hinged member, to be described.

The hinged member comprises a flat plate 20 (Figure 7 and 8) having atongue 2| which is rolled into cylindrical form. The hinged member ispreferably formed of a metal having the same thickness as the blankabove described and may be cut or stamped therefrom in any convenientmanner. It is also provided with apertures 22 adapted to receivefastening screws.

In assembling the two members, bushings l6 are reamed to receive thehinge pin. The hinged member is then placed in position with the rolledness of the metal of the bushings I 6 serves to provide clearancebetween the inner surface of the shroud l1 and the tongue 2|. The shroudcovers substantially the entire outer surface of the hinge knuckle,thereby concealing the tongue 2| and the built-in bushings Hi. The hingeaccordingly has integrally formed bushings and shroud, made from aone-piece blank by a minimum number of operations.

Obviously, the length of the flanges I2 should be such that the bushingsl6 extend over as great a portion of the circumference as possible so asto provide the maximum bearing surface for the hinge pin and also tofacilitate the proper positioning of the reamer. The size and positionof the aperture H is determined by the size of the tongue 2! and themaximum opening of the hinge.

In some instances, only a single flat section may be required. In thatcase, the hinge member may be made in the manner above described, butthe flanges l2 may be located at the end of the blank which is madecorrespondingly shorter.

The hinged member 2il2! may be formed so that the portion is cylindricaland still be within the spirit of my invention.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed forpurpose of illustration, it is to be understood that various changes andsubstitutions may be made therein without departing from the scope ofthe invention, which is to be limited only in accordance with thefollowing claims when interpreted in View of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A one-piece hinge member formed from a blank comprising a bodyportion and a pair of side flanges at the two edges thereof, saidflanges being bent over said body portion to provide an extra thicknessof metal at said edges, said blank being rolled to form a hinge knucklewith said flanges on the inside to form built-in bushings.

2. A one-piece hinge member formed from a blank comprising a bodyportion and a pair of side flanges extending from the two edges thereof,said flanges being bent over said body portion to provide an extrathickness of metal at x the two edges, said blank being rolled to form ahinge knuckle with said flanges on the inside and under conditions suchthat the thickness of metal of said flanges is increased, wherebyclearance is provided for a hinged member.

3. The method of forming a one-piece hinge member from a blank having abody portion and side flanges which comprises folding the flanges overagainst the body portion and rolling the adjacent portion of the blankto form a hinge knuckle with the flanges on the inside to form built inbushings.

4. The method of forming a onepiece hinge member from a blank having abody portion and side flanges which comprises folding the flanges overagainst the body portion and rolling the adjacent portion of the blankto form a hinge knuckle with the flanges on the inside to form built inbushings, while restricting the external diameter of the knuckle so thatthe bushings are caused to increase in thickness toward the center ofthe knuckle, the body of said blank forming a shroudsubstantially-completely enclosing said knuckle.

5. The method of forming a one-piece hinge member from a blank with anextra thickness of metal at the two edges thereof which comprisesrolling the blank to form a hinge knuckle with said extra thickness ofmetal on the inside to provide built-in bushings.

6. The method of forming a one-piece hinge member from a blank having abody portion and side flanges which comprises folding the flanges overagainst the body portion and folding the body to form overlapping flatsections and an intermediate rolled hinge knuckle with the flanges onthe inside of said knuckle to form built-in bushings.

HAZOR J. SMITH.

